Taming Social Complexity

Vítor V. Vasconcelos

Tenure Track Assistant Professor at Computational Science Lab, Informatics Institute, University of AmsterdamCo-lead of POLDER at Institute for Advanced Studies, University of AmsterdamDirector of MSc Complex Systems and Policy, Institute for Interdisciplinary Studies, University of AmsterdamChairman of development of 'MSc Complex Systems and Policy' at Institute for Interdisciplinary Studies, University of Amsterdam 
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About

In this era of Complexity, I develop new models of human collective behavior to anticipate the intended and unintended consequences of interventions on complex social systems. 

From climate change to global misinformation, our collective inability to manage these systems results in many systemic crises. Thus, we must understand these systems and how their emergent properties derive from their interconnectedness. 

Using various mathematical and computational methods, coupled with experiments and observations, we delve into the intricacies of systems involving humans, resources, and governing institutions. I aim to utilize this knowledge to address some of society's most pressing problems.

I am an Assistant Professor at the University of Amsterdam, working at the Computational Science Lab at the Informatics Institute (IvI), collaborating with a great local team and many great fellows worldwide. I co-lead the POLDER initiative at the Institute for Advanced Study and coordinate the development of a new Master’s program in ‘Complex Systems and Policy’ at the Institute for Interdisciplinary Studies.

Previously, I was a Visiting Research Scholar at the Andlinger Center for Energy and the Environment and the Princeton Institute for International and Regional Studies, at Princeton University, where I also did two postdocs after my PhD. I finished my PhD in Sciences at the University of Minho, Portugal, in 2017.